Routine at Last!

Since S was born I have been struggling to come up with a solid night time routine. I would come up with something that I thought would work, then something else would get in my way or I wouldn't have the patience to follow through until he was all the way asleep. Well, I am saying good-bye to those days. I have found something that works and I am sticking to it.

It all begins with one nap a day. If he takes two naps it's game over, up until 10 p.m.

Around 4:30 S will start getting hungry for dinner so I get him set up in his highchair and make sure he eats enough to get him nice and full, he will not fall asleep if he is even a tad hungry. After dinner we head straight to the bathtub where we will splash around in the water to get our giggles out. S will stand and play with the faucet, then plop down to make a big splash - repeat that about 10 to 15 times :)

When bath time is over I snuggle him up in a big cozy towel and bring him into his room to sing our jammie song, by this time you can tell he's getting pretty tired, big yawns. We get on his jammies and get settled in the rocker to read Good Night Moon, this never changes, we read the same book every night. As he gets older I will make up my own stories, but for now, this consistency is key.

After the book, we rock and nurse. While he is nursing, I sing Home On The Range. Yes, Home On The Range :) it works. Soon after, it's all zzzzzz's. I bask in the moment for awhile then move him to our room to lay him in our bed where my husband and I will join him hours later.

I am jumping for joy over here! The lack of routine has been eating away at me. Consistency is what I have been yearning for and I've finally caught it. I am one happy mama. (By the way, S said Mama for the first time this past Saturday!!)

Natural Cough & Cold Remedy

It's that time of the year again, kids are back in school. That means germs are flowing and you and your little one might get sick. I don't know about you, but I am not a big fan of taking unnatural medicines or giving them to my child. Although they provide relief, they can also be harmful to your body. Luckily, we have sweet Mother Earth to rely on.

Here is a simple, safe and totally affordable natural remedy that you can use on your whole family. Most people have the herb right in their own home! Thyme. This infusion is fool proof!



(Note: children, babies and adults all take a different dosage. See list below. Do not give to babies under 6 months of age without professional advice)

Directions:

Simply steep 2 level teaspoons of dry thyme in 1 cup of boiling water (one teaspoon if you are using fresh thyme)

cover for 5 - 10 minutes

Strain and let cool

Dosages:

Standard: take 1 cup 3-4 times a day

6 - 12 months: take 1/3 cup a day

1 - 6 years old: take 1 - 2 cups a day 

7 - 13 years old: take 2 1/2 - 3 cups a day


 I don't have a fancy tea pot, I just dump my herb into a jar and pour the boiling water on top. I cover the jar with a towel and strain with a regular mesh strainer when it is done.

 

This infusion can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. It's not that long, but that's okay because it's simple enough to make it as you need it.

I hope you try this out! Let me know if you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them!

All of my information came from the book Natural Health Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine by Andrew Chevallier

Little Waldorf Baby

School. In my city there are a few options. You have your good ole Catholic schools, the type of school I attended all of my school years, the not so good city public school, the Language Immersion School (which is pretty awesome, in my opinion), charter schools and our local Waldorf school.



I have always gravitated toward the idea of sending S. to a Waldorf school. It is everything I have ever wanted for my son, education for his whole self, his heart, hands and head, all while being surrounded by a very diverse group of individuals.

 

The other day I was talking with a friend and she mentioned this 12 week Parent Infant class that the Waldorf school holds and my ears immediately perked up. It is a class where parents learn games and songs to play with their babies while also learning to develop our ability to quietly observe and interpret children’s movements, gestures, and vocalizations. I told her I was totally interested and that I would love for her to send me the information.

 

The lady in charge contacted me right away. It turned out that there was only one spot left. She told me that if we were interested, she could hold it for us until we got our registration and payment in. I looked over the info and found out that it is actually super affordable, so of course I said yes!

 

I am so happy that everything worked out in our favor. I am super eager to learn new things with S. and make new friends together. This is going to be an amazing opportunity that I have only dreamed about....it's actually becoming a reality!! Class starts August 28th! I will be sure to post about it =)     

Sunday Moment

Good Morning :)

this kid is awesome

It still amazes me that I helped create an individual, a soul. I pushed a mind out of my body. Woah. I gave life to a person who will grow up and be a citizen in our world.

 

As S is getting bigger, I am becoming more aware of the individual he is. I could just sit here and observe him all day. He is becoming more and more interesting every single day. Tomorrow he will be 10 months old! Wait, what? 10 months old????

He crawls, laughs, yells, babbles, loves to eat (especially blueberries, whole blueberries!) and totally enjoys hanging out with other kids. He listens, observes, plays, climbs and pulls himself up to stand. He thinks dogs are hilarious and he chases his chickens. This kid is awesome.

Man, I love this life!

soft egg

This week is Yellowman's second week of laying eggs.

  That's Yellowman

Right now she is the only hen of five that is laying. I went outside today to collect her egg and was surprised to find that it was soft and rubbery. I am new to the chicken business, but have heard of this before. I understand that this common with newly laying hens and I also know that it can be caused be a calcium deficiency (among many other things). I have decided to crunch up a bunch of egg shells that I just tossed in the compost pile and feed them to the girls. I am hoping that will help harden her eggs. Compared to oyster shells, a commonly used supplement, they are free and easy to come by. We'll see if it helps!

Cluttered Brain

During the past couple of days I have had so many posts run through my mind. There is so much going on inside of my brain that I don't even know where to start. I think I'm going to go the list route. Yeah, a list sounds good, complete with pictures of course.

This is kind of old news, but our coop is finally complete! I am so proud of my husband for creating the plans and constructing this masterpiece single hand-idly. Built out of 90% (free!) up-cycled materials - f yea!

 


The St. Louis Zoo opened their new seal exhibit, it was pretty sweet.

 

 


S is walking with his little walker toy that Old Grandma Lila got him from a garage sale at the farm. I am so happy she found it! S just pulls himself right up and away he goes.

 


The child LOVES to swing. I mean, I think he would stay in that thing all day. It's funny because he hated his swing when he was a baby......as if he isn't a baby anymore ;)




He has five best friends. He chases after them until he gets a few good pets in. He thinks they are hilarious.

 


We got our first eggs!! What an amazing feeling it was to open the latch and see 2 little eggies waiting to be collected.

  


And last but not least, our FREE chair. Found it in front of someone's house while taking a walk with S and the baby I nanny. It was covered with a sheet and had a sign that said "take". Don't mind if I do!